During the Taipei District Court's hearings, Chen leveled allegations of interference in politics against individual members of the Supreme Prosecutors Office's Special Investigation Division, the team of prosecutors entrusted with his cases. He said he would file charges against four members of the SID today.

Chen also claimed that SID prosecutors told him about evidence of allegations against his predecessor Lee Teng-hui and his successor President Ma Ying-jeou.

Lee received up to NT$300 million from China, while there was a disk about an alleged relationship between Ma and a male foreign entertainer, Chen claimed prosecutors told him. Chen wondered why if that was the case, the prosecutors failed to investigate Lee.

No comment from TSU

Lee's Taiwan Solidarity Union refused to comment on the statements, but Lee has always been known as a staunch opponent of China, facing a significant rise in tension with Beijing firing missiles near Taiwan in the run-up to the 1996 presidential elections.

The Presidential Office said Chen's allegations were completely untrue and not worthy of a response.

In addition, Chen said prosecutors had contacted Democratic Progressive Party leaders to influence other court cases as well as party elections.

The SID rejected Chen's allegations against political meddling by its members at a news conference following the end of the court session yesterday evening.

Chen also reiterated accusations made by his attorneys on Monday that recordings of interrogations had been tampered with to remove statements favorable to him.

The attorneys showed fragments of the interrogations at a news conference, saying some parts had no sound, while others had disappeared altogether. They also accused the prosecutors of being unnecessarily friendly or harsh to some witnesses in order to influence their responses.

"Based on our experience, we will also ask to review the other evidence for problems," attorney Shih Yi-lin told reporters.

Chen also demanded a change of court from the Taipei District Court to the Shihlin District Court, but reports said such a move was unlikely to be agreed to. The ex-president has accused the Taipei Court's presiding judge, Tsai Shou-shun, of being biased against him after he overturned an earlier decision last December that there was no need for Chen to be detained as a suspect.

The former head of state was taken into custody at the Taipei Detention Center in Tucheng, Taipei County, on Dec. 30.

Protest lodged

Chen appeared tired during the hearings, reports said. He ended a four-day hunger strike after the first-ever visit to him in prison by his wife Wu Shu-jen Monday.

Supporters and opponents of the former president traded slogans outside the court, with Chen fans shouting "the judiciary is unfair" at three SID prosecutors arriving for the hearings. The judge ordered two alleged Chen supporters out of the room after they kept talking, media reports said. A woman said she couldn't bear how a prosecutor interrupted Chen's attorney, so she had to register a protest.

During the morning, proceedings focused on Chen's role in the transfer of land in Lungtan, Taoyuan County, from Taiwan Cement Corporation chairman Leslie Koo to the Hsinchu Science Park. Chen and Wu allegedly accepted NT$300 million for the deal. He said yesterday he was completely ignorant of the land transaction and didn't know whether his wife had accepted money from Koo.

The afternoon session discussed allegations that the couple pocketed NT$104 million from a special presidential fund and that they laundered money in overseas accounts officially registered in the names of friends and relatives.

The other two cases the former first family was indicted for include an alleged NT$90.93 million in bribes paid by a construction tycoon to win a contract for the Nangang Exhibition Hall in Taipei, and money laundering through overseas accounts.

In addition to the indictments, SID prosecutors are still investigating allegations that Chen and Wu accepted payments from financial holdings in return for the permission to acquire other companies.

Chen was taken back to the Taipei Detention Center after the first day of hearings finished around 7 p.m. last night, but he is still scheduled to appear in court today and tomorrow.